Concession, Confusion, Commission

Disclaimer: This post is from the archives, and may not represent the current views of the author. It also may not be at all interesting to read. Continue at your own peril!

Last night was quite the eventful night. I went to work at 6:30 PM, and was introduced to the concession. Yes, I’m being trained to get popcorn, spit in drinks, and the whole deal. It was quite exciting. Well, I guess it wasn’t that exciting, but I’ll say it is just to make the whole night that I’ll describe for you just that much more interesting.

I signed in on my cash register thing first of all, after choosing a six-digit number to use as my login. The registers there are much more ancient than the one at Quizno’s. You see, Quizno’s had one of those touch-screen registers, where it was essentially a computer. These things at the theatre are of the more archaic push-button things, where sometimes it takes forty-three metric tonnes of pressure per square inch just to make the button work. Don’t ask me how I measured it (I didn’t). At first, Nikki set me to work getting orders for people. She showed me the sizes of drinks, and also the size of popcorn bags. Then she took orders while I got them all ready. Basically, it’s easiest to do the drinks first, since you can just set them there and they’ll fill up. Then popcorn comes next. The scoops to pick up the popcorn are really annoying, because they’re made for right-handed people. As I began to scoop out popcorn, I thought about just how much better life would be if left-handed people were in the majority rather than the minority. But alas, since such is not the case, my fate is clear: I just have to learn to use my right hand for things like scooping popcorn.

After a while of just getting people’s orders, Nikki moved me onto the cash register and showed me how it worked. I got the hang of it fairly quickly, and so I started taking the orders while she got them. That was all fine and well, but I barely knew what I was doing. People would ask for the Super Combo or the Reel Deal Combo, and I had no idea what those were or what to do with them except to push the appropriate button on the cash register. So in other words, Nikki had to take some of the orders just because she knew what she was doing.

During the break, when the movies were playing, we had to go count up the large bills and do a deposit. Then after that, she explained to me a bit more about what to do. She first showed me the sheet with a bar graph on it and a bunch of people’s names underneath. She explained that, while working at concession, we earn commission for our sales. I immediately perked up, because that just made everything worth it. Now it was up to me how much I made. She explained how different sizes of drinks and popcorn would give you a higher percentage, and how small drinks were the enemy. Apparently a small drink and a bottle of pop are the same price, but you get like twice the amount of pop in the bottle, so you can tell the customer that and avoid bringing down your percentage with a small drink purchase. After showing me the commission and telling me the record (I think she said it was about $75 in two weeks’ time), she then explained a bit more about some of the combos and upsizing them as well. I didn’t catch a lot of the numbers she said; to upsize one thing, it was $1.29, and to upsize something else, it was $0.79, and stuff like that. I’ll learn that as I go along, I guess, but it was just too much information all at once.

After showing me a lot of what to do and how to handle different types of food and stuff, she let me go on break. I went and sat in Red Eye for fifteen minutes, and didn’t understand much of what was going on. Meh. I came back and then made myself productive while Nikki went on break. Then, it was down to business. Nikki still wasn’t off her break, and Robyn decided that it was time for her break as well, so it was basically up to me to look after concession. The movies were still playing by this time, so all I would really have to do would be to handle refills and stuff, but whatever. When Nikki got off her break, she didn’t come back and help me; instead, she stayed over by the usher’s podium talking, or something like that. Soon, customers started coming, so I put my newfound knowledge to work and started taking orders. I actually don’t think I did too badly. I handled several of the combos, and even got some people to upsize their stuff – more money in my pocket! Score! As I started getting the hang of things, though, the unexpected happened. Kayla, my ex-girlfriend, showed up with her boyfriend Kyle. Fortunately they didn’t harass me, though, so I didn’t make fun of the fact that Kyle is about twice her height, so she’d likely need a stepladder to make out with him or something. It was just sort of an awkward moment. Kayla asked if they got a discount because they knew me, and I said, “Nope!” That was about it. Soon the moment was over, and business was back to normal.

At the end of the night, Nikki showed me how to clean the ketchup, mustard, butter, and margarine pumps, as well as the cheese and salsa bins. I won’t bore you with the details, but let’s just say that all the cleaning and washing dishes reminded me of Quizno’s. Scary. Their sink had a leak in it, so by the time I was finished, the bottom of my pants and my shoes were all wet. Whatever. We got out exactly on time, and I headed home. I have to be trained to open concession tomorrow, so that should be fun – or not. I think I still like being an usher better, just because there’s less to remember. However, being on concession means commission, so I suppose they balance each other out. Extra money versus less work means that they’re basically even.

I guess that’s all I have to say for today. I have an interview at North Park in an hour to discuss my courses there. Since they’re apparently not offering Grade 12 Physics in the second semester, which I need, I have to discuss what other options I have and try to get something sorted out. At the very least, I need to ask them whether they handle ILC or correspondence courses. I know Mr. G did at BCC, but I’m not sure whether he just did that because he was nice or because the school is supposed to do that. I highly doubt that he could be classified as “nice,” but whatever. I checked over the prerequisites for the Psychology programs in all the universities in Ontario, though, and found that as long as I have Geometry & Discrete Mathematics and Chemistry, then I’ve covered the minimum requirements. I still want Physics, though, just to have better chances of getting in. But with that said, I need to go get ready, because I have a bus to catch. Yes, I have to take the bus to North Park. How exciting.

5 responses to “Concession, Confusion, Commission”

Anonymous

what else do you have? i don’t want any freaky surprises of finding out you’re in one of my classes on the first day.

oh and by the way, physics = worst class in the world. mr. humpartzoomian (said the way it looks) teaches most if not all of the physics classes and has mad b.o. when he walks down the hall it sometimes lingers in the air an extra couple of minutes. mm.

sincerely, katie annand, the girl confused by pyjama pants at school.

Jeff

Well let’s see here…I have Gr. 11 Chemistry, Gr. 11 Physics, and Geometry & Discrete Mathematics in the first semester…and in the second semester I have Gr. 12 Chemistry, Data Management, and possibly a weird course called something like Individuals Living in a Diverse Society or something ghey like that. She said it was sort of like sociology, though, and that’s sort of like psychology, so that was her best alternative to Gr. 12 Physics, since they’re not offering it second semester.

I really hope I’m in one of your classes so I can bug you to no end until you completely go ballistic and plant a bomb in the school. Then, with your final words, you’ll scream out, “HE DID IT!” and then the bomb will explode. I will have ingeniously climbed out a window just before the explosion, and will become famous, later writing a book called, “She Started It,” and becoming a multi-millionaire. And I’ll have you to thank.

So with that said, I must also add Mr. H’s B.O. to my list of things to watch out for. Right now, the list is Katie Annand, and alien invasions (I wasn’t sure if I should just combine those since they’re practically the same).

Anonymous

you should also watch out for swarms of confused grade 9s. i dislike them so. um and anytime you see kayla make a scene, it really embarasses her friends for some reason. i love it.

anyhow, i’m not as scary as most people think. i guess my tough bad girl image has intimidated people in the past, but i’m a kind soul underneath the rough exterior. i don’t know what i’m talking about.

Jeff

Strangely, I don’t think I’ll be able to avoid those swarms of Grade 9s, considering I’ll likely be just as confused as them. Vince offered to give me a tour of the place on the first day, but I’ve also had offers from a couple other people, so now it’s basically going to the highest bidder. I’ll just have to stay away from asking Grade 9s for directions, that’s all.

Kind soul? Not scary? You sure could have fooled me…then again, underneath my tough, manly exterior, I’m really just a scared emo boy looking for love in a cruel world. Well, okay, I guess my exterior may not be all that manly…so I’m just the scared emo boy part. Excuse me while I go cry in a corner now…

Anonymous

you’ll adjust really quickly.. or should.. all of your science classes will be downstairs in two halls that are attached.. math is upstairs, just up the stairs from the science halls.

you should be able to find everything fine. usually the first couple of days are confusing, but it sounds like most of your classes will be fairly close together.. and if not you apparently have a small troop of people willing to show you around.